Ten books with C. S. Lewis
My new reading challenge for 2024
While scrolling through Twitter (I refuse to call it “X”) a few days ago, I came across a very interesting thread posted by the account Coffee with the Classics. Apparently in 1962, C. S. Lewis was asked which books most influenced him as a writer and shaped his philosophy of life. Lewis responded with a list of ten remarkable titles:
Phantastes by George MacDonald
The Aeneid by Virgil
The Temple by George Herbert
The Prelude by William Wordsworth
The Idea of the Holy by Rudolf Otto
The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius
The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell
Theism and Humanism by Arthur James Balfour
Descent into Hell by Charles Williams
The Everlasting Man by G. K. Chesterton
I’ve already read two of these works before (Virgil and Boethius) and two more have been waiting patiently in my to-be-read pile (MacDonald and Chesterton). The rest are new to me.
Ever since my high school humanities teacher introduced me to the “Great Books”, I’ve had an abiding interest in reading more classic literature. And C. S. Lewis is one of my all-time favorite authors; any books recommended by him have my attention.
So, after perusing this list, I immediately decided to make it my personal resolution to read through these ten books in 2024 and to chronicle this literary adventure here on Pageturning.
I intend to read one of these books every month for the next ten months. After I finish each title, I’ll write up my reflections and post them here. While I don’t have the time to run a formal book club, please feel free to follow along with me and share your thoughts about these tomes in the comments!
For February, I’ll be diving into George MacDonald’s fantasy novel Phantastes.
Thank you so much for reading and supporting my newsletter! If you know anyone else who might be interested in reading the ten books that influenced C. S. Lewis, please share this post. And please give Coffee with the Classics a follow on Twitter. I’m certain they’d appreciate it.
Until next time, take care, God bless, and happy reading!
What a great reading challenge, Thomas! I am excited you will be reading George MacDonald this year. I think you will really like his writing. I haven't read Phantastes yet, so I will have to add that to my 2024 reading list!
When you get to The Prelude, you will discover that there are two main version, the 1805 and the 1850. My father was a Wordsworth scholar and a great advocate of the 1850 Prelude. The critical consensus at the time favored the 1805 because it is more left wing, in the spirit of the French Revolution, while the 1850 is more conservative. My father's case for the 1850 was not based on its politics but on the quality of its poetry. I have no information on which version Lewis would have read, though I suspect that the 1850 would have been the default version at the time, before ambitious scholars dug up the earlier version. You might want to check into this if you want to be scrupulous about it. If you just want the better poetry, though, go for the 1850.